To Kill a Mockingbird

By Harper Lee

I have read so many amazing books lately. This classic was no exception – Where has this book been all my life? I think many people have read it for school, but somehow it never came across my path until now. My family was listening to the audiobook on our vacation this summer so I got a teaser by hearing a chapter or two during the trip.

I absolutely love this book. It is so beautifully, deceptively simple, but miles deep. It has so much to say about family, pride, education, prejudice, fear, justice… but it’s never preachy, never overt social commentary. Just Scout telling us about her childhood, and I could totally picture the whole thing. Parts of it were so funny, I laughed out loud. There were more than just a few edge-of-my-seat moments, and the amazing thing was they weren’t artificially dramatic or scenes of extreme or fictional action. Just so true-to-life that the heart-racing was real. I remember one moment when Scout describes that feeling of intense chill, shivering, from fear/anxiety and not at all from the real temperature. I was feeling the same way, just sitting on the couch reading it.

I was just blown away with how the most profound, meaningful elements were so understated, so subtle. I give Harper Lee an A+ for symbolism, believable characters, and ability to enthrall the reader.

A Must-Read!!!